Unstacker



May 11 1926. 1,583,904 D. R. TANNER UNSTACKER Filed June 2, 1924 2 sheets-sheet 1 INVENTOR.

BY mhhwdwmyuw I ATTORNEYS 1924 2 Sh'eets'-Sheet 2' ATTORNEYS.

D. R. TANNER UNSTACKER Filed June 2 May 1,1 1926.l

Patented May 11, 1926.

Unirse sraras ATENrori-*ICE-M DANIEL R. TANNER, E LA GRANDE, oEEsoN, AssIGNoN To THE EILER sa sTowELL oo.,

or MILWAUKEE, wIsooNsrN, A conroEA'rroN or wrscoNsrN.

UNSTACKER.

Application med June 2,

This invention relates to unstackers, and the-objectl of the invention is to improve the construction and operation of unstackers in the manner to be hereinafter described and claimed. y

My present invention' is an improvement on the unstacker mechanismillustrated and described in my prior Patent No. 1,220,375, granted and dated March 27, 1917, to which reference may be had for prior .art mechanisms which it is not necessary to describe with particularity in this specification.

Referring to the drawings which accompany this specification and form a part hereof, which drawings illustrate an embodiment of this invention, and on'which drawings the same reference characters are 'used to designate'the same parts in the several views, Fig. 1 Vis aplan ,view of parts of the unstacker and associated mechanism, parts being shown in section,and a part being broken away; Fig. v2 is a vertical section on the line 2 2 on Fig. l, looking` in the direction indicated by the arrows, and part-s vbeing broken away; and Fig. 3 is an elevation of parts of the unstacker, drawn to an enlarged scale, and parts being broken away.

Referring to the drawings, the reference numeral 1 designates a transfer car which is illustrated as provided with. wheels 2 to travelupon a track 3. The track 3 is illustrated as including three rails 4, 5 and 6, and the wheels 2 are arranged in pairs so that a pair of wheels' travelsupon each rail 4, 5 and 6. y lhe number of wheels 2 and the number of rails included in the track 3 are immaterial, provided the requisite stability for the transfer car l is secured. The transfer car l is provided with -a track 7 which is illustrated by the drawings as including rails 8 and 9 which are ordinarily disposed substantially at right angles with the rails 4, 5 and 6. Any desired number of tracks 10, including rails 10', may be provided according to requirements, as, for example, loading tracks, kiln tracks, etc., and the gage of the rails of all such tracks shouid be the same as the gage of the rails 8 and 9 of the track 7 on the transfer car l in the ordinary manner.

rlhe bunks 11 are provided with wheels 12 and removable stakes 13 and lumber may be loaded on a plurality Vof bunks 11 in thev manner described in my prior Patent No. 1,220,375, and removed from the bunks by 19.24. serial No. 717,309.

the endless chains 14l which arey provided with the lugs 15. Fig. 2' ofthe drawings illustrates the unstacker in operation with aV -lug 15 lifting the tier of boards which is the one immediately preceding the last tier of boards .to be removed.` Thev tier of boards being lifted is designated by the reference numeral 16, the stickers by the reference numeral 17, and the last tier of boards by the reference numeral 18. The construction and operation of the tension arms 19,l the pivoted board guides 20, the sticker stops 21, and the.' conveyor 22, with the' supplemental `conveyor 23 .will be readily understood from my prior Patent No. 1,220,375.A The move# ments of the transfer car 1 by the endless chain 24, vpower mechanism 25 "and the' weights 26, andby the actuation' of the foot treadle rods 27 and 28, will also be readily understood from my prior PatentNo. 1,220,"- 375. f The uprights 29are provided on'their lumber-contacting faces with channel irons 30 within which the endless chains 14 run to avoid direct contact with the boards or 30 lumber. I Y f The pressure beam 3l,whic'h is adapted to exert pressure against stakes 13 yto align the lumber or boards trulyagainst the channel irons 30, which form a part of the upriffhts S5 29, are supported by arms 32 which are' pivotally. supported upon the transfer car-1 by pivots 33, for example. Means are provided for holding the arms 32 in different positions. The arms 32 may be provided with 90 e,

crank members 34 which are provided with slots'35, for example, to receive-'pins 36 on cranks 37 which are rigidly secured to a shaft 38. The arms 32 m`ay be turned into positions where the slots 35 are substantially 95 at right angles with the positions then occupied by the cranks 37. The positions theny occupied by the arms 32, crank members 34, and cranks 37 are dead-.center positions which can-not be changed by pressure vapplied to the. arms 32, but the arms -32 can,.

be readily moved by rocking the shaft 38 or turning the cranks 37. A cam 39 may be arranged to engage an antifrictionr roller 40,"

on a pin 36 fixed inthe end of each crank 37 whereby the arms 32 are moved away from stakes 13 when the last tier of lumber or boards 18 has been removed from the bunks 11. by the endless chains 14.

The pressure beam 31 may be moved by screws 41, either in or out, by a crank 42 and sprocket Wheel and sprocket chain mechanism 43, for example.

rIhe general operation of the unstaeker is the same as the operation of the apparatus of my prior Patent No. 1,220,375, but, in the present invention, the pressure beam 31 is carried by the transfer car 1. The loading* of the bunks, transferring the loaded bunks to kilns, removing the loaded bunks from kilns, and bringing them to the uprights 29 are essentially the same operations as performed by the apparatus of my prior Patent No. 1,220,375, but the truing of the lumber or board stack against the uprights 29 is performed by simply turning lthe arms 32 upon their pivots until the cranks 37 are in deadcenter posit-ionsA The pressure beam 31 is then forced against stakes 13, until the stack is true with the nprights 29, by means of the screws l1 which are actuated b y turning the crank 12. The unstackii'ig` or unloadingl of the lumber or boards is then accomplished in the same manner as is disclosed by the apparatus of my prior Patent No. 1,220,375, but, when the last tier of boards 18 has been unloaded, further movement, in the loading direction, of the transfer car 1 Will cause the antifriction roller LIO to run up on the cam 39 and swing the arms to their other limits of movement, so that, after the unloaded bunks have been run offfrom the transfer car 1, onto storage or other tracks, the transfer car 1 can be run back to receive another stack of lumber from a kiln, or to perform other duties.

It is, of course, obvious that the pressure beam 31 is movable with respect to the arms 32 both towards and away from stakes 13 and should be backed away from stakes 13, when the arms 32 are turned to the clear, to make sure of the locking of the arms 32 when they are turned up against another stack on the transfer car 1.

What is claimed is:

1. The combination with fixed uprights, of a transfer ear adapted to carry a stack of boards, for example, against said uprights, and means mounted upon said car for truing the stack against said uprights.

2. The combination With fixed uprights, of a transfer ear adapted to carry a stack of boards against said uprights, means mounted on the car for truing said stack against said uprights, means for successively removing boards from said stack, and means for changing the position of the truing means when all the boards have been re moved from said stack.

3. The combination with fixed uprights, of a transfer car adapted to receive bunks carrying a stack of lumber, means for 'moving the transfer car to bring the stack against the uprights, a pressure beam to true the stack against the uprights, pivoted arms carried by the car, means to lock the arms in fixed positions, and means carried by said pivoted arms to move the pressure beam to- Wards or away from the stack.

4i. rIhe combination With fixed uprights, of a transfer' car adapted to receive bunks carrying a stack of lumber, .removable stakes carried by the bunks, means for moving the transfer car to move the stack against the uprights, arms pivoted to the transfer car, means to lock said arms in fixed positions, a pressure beam carried by said arms, means to force said pressure beam against stakes for truing the stack against the uprights, and means for moving said arms and pressure beam in a direction away from the uprights, While the transfer car is moving.`

' 5. In apparatus of the character described, a transfer car provided with tracks arranged transversely thereof, truck mounted on said tracks, means arranged in the path of movement of said car and adapted to remove the lumber from said truck, and means carried by said car and adapted to position and to support said lumber inv operative relation with respect to said first-mentioned means.

6. In apparatus of the character described, a transfer car provided with tracks arranged transversely thereof, a lumber-carrying truck mounted on said tracks, means arranged in the path of movement of said car and adapted to remove the lumber from said truck, andA means carried by said car and adapted to position and to support said lumber in operative relation with respect to said first-mentioned means, said secondmentioned means including a plurality of parts having a dead-center position With re spect to each other which is reached when said parts are in operative position.

In Witness whereof I hereto affix my nature.

DANIEL R. TANNE i,

a lumber-carrying 

